Until now, absorptive articles typified by disposable diapers and bladder control pads have been in widespread use.
These absorptive articles are usually made from pulp as a main raw material produced from wood, and most thereof are incinerated after use.
In recent years, however, various reclamation processes have been developed to recycle used products with consideration for environmental concerns such as deforestation and carbon dioxide emissions.
For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a reclaimed disposable diaper and reclaimed bladder control pad made from regenerated pulp separated and recovered from used disposable diapers and used bladder control pads.
Patent Document 2 discloses an absorptive article having an absorber that contains a blended pulp composed of virgin pulp and recycled pulp obtained from used paper, and that contains an absorbent polymer.
In processes of manufacturing the disposable diaper or the absorbent pad, rejected products occur during adjustment of a production machine at the time of an item change and material splicing. Furthermore, products that cannot be shipped due to a failure are treated as rejected products.
Although some of the rejected products have been converted to cat litter or other products after separating a polymer absorber, others have been usually incinerated.
In recent years, efforts have been made to separate pulp and polymers from rejected products and to reuse them for effective use of the rejected products.